Once Upon a Dream

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin

Designed for the
Hôtel du Marc at Rheims, where guests of the Veuve Cliquot champagne
house often suffering from jet lag stay, Once upon a dream is the
ideal room for swift rest-&-resynchronization - sweet deams
guaranteed. Between the Sand Man and home cinema, this unit for
slumber was designed using tried and tested data gathered in
physiological studies for treating people who suffer from chronic
insomnia. (Which was the case of the Widow Cliquot, the founder of
the firm).

Going to sleep is
like stepping off into another state, sifting down into consciousness
by successive stages. Each phase is stage-set by the story-teller,
preparing mind and body for abandonment to sleep.

Chapter 1 :
automatic curtain closure, the interior show begins. Visually
re-defined, the mental slate of the sleeper-to-be is erased for
change of consciousness and production of dream.
Chapter 2 :
Overall room temperature falls 2° to 19° C.
Chapter 3 : With
barely a touch, the user activates the automatic light dimmer via the
plant hanging over the bed - a reminiscence of the briar protecting
Sleeping Beauty. In fifteen minutes, light dims from 100 Lux to 0.
Chapter 4 :
During the light-dimming phase, low-volume white noise acoustically
isolates the sleeper from external sounds. This purr created by
adding together barely audible frequencies is used to put certain
patients into a Non Ordinary State of Consciousness. The brain homes
in on the neutral swish, and with ideal body temperature, sleep
comes.
Chapter 5 :
Wake-up. Temperature rises by 2°. Light intensity increases from 0
to 1000 Lux in fifteen minutes.